An investigation into the slow and opaque parole process for a small group of people incarcerated for crimes from the 1970s. Our research found the Illinois Prisoner Review Board’s decisions were often arbitrary and inconsistent, and there was little oversight or accountability.
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Years after we first wrote about Ronnie Carrasquillo’s many failed attempts at parole, the Illinois Appellate Court overturned his sentence and he was released from prison in October 2023.
Additional Reporting
New bill would offer chance at parole for youthful offenders
The Illinois House of Representatives is considering a bill that would give young offenders the opportunity for parole. Despite earlier hopes of advocates, the bill would give the decision to the Prisoner Review Board, an agency whose decisions, an Injustice Watch review found, are often inconsistent and arbitrary.
For sixth time, Illinois board rejects parole for man convicted of 1976 murders
Larry Kurina was once paroled for the double murder he committed in 1976, while a minor. But since his parole was violated in 1976 following an arrest for possessing stolen tools, the Illinois Prison Review Board has denied Kurina a second chance. Thursday the outcome was no different.
Attorneys: Cook County judge’s corruption polluted his handling of murder case
In 1977, a judge convicted an 18-year old of murder and sentenced him to 200-to-600 years in prison. Forty years later, the prisoners’ attorneys contend the trial and sentencing were an improper effort by a corrupt judge to dilute public criticism.
Records of Illinois parole board show just how rarely inmates win release
Getting voting records of the members of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board dating back to 2013 was no easy task. Those records reveal a system in which aging prisoners locked up at least 40 years have almost no chance of winning support for their release from the board members, a majority of whom have denied…
Appeals court hears claim judge harshly treated murder defendant to hide his own corruption
Attorneys for a Chicago man convicted of a 1976 police killing argued before a packed Illinois appellate courtroom Thursday that the prisoner was found guilty and given a sentence of several hundred years by a judge trying to conceal his own corruption.
Appellate court denies new trial for Chicago man convicted months after judge accepted a bribe in mob case
The appellate court panel ruled there was no connection between the judge’s acquittal of a mob hitman and Ronnie Carrasquillo’s murder trial. The court did grant Carrasquillo a chance to develop other claims that his 200 to 600-year sentence is unconstitutional.
Project Contributors
Reporting by Emily Hoerner and Jeanne Kuang
Photos by Emily Hoerner and Jeanne Kuang
Editing by Rick Tulsky